The University of Bath boss has been accused of ‘double standards’ after it emerged she received an interest-free loan of more than £31,000 to spend on a car.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Glynis Breakwell, the country’s best paid, was given the loan as part of her £451,000 salary and benefits package.

Dame Glynis is the only member of the university’s senior management team to ever receive such a loan, according to a Freedom of Information request, which also disclosed she has no interest to pay on it.

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“The university has made available to the Vice-Chancellor during the year a car loan as a cost-effective means of providing the benefits to which she is contractually entitled,” university financial statements for 2015-16 read.

“The car loan was in existence at the start of the year and the balance remained unchanged throughout the year at £31,489.

“The cost to the university of providing the loan is included in the Vice-Chancellor's emoluments.”

The revelation of the car loan prompted a backlash from students who pay interest of six per cent on their loans - something the University of Bath is challenging.

Psychology student Iona Kynaston said: "That our Vice-Chancellor receives interest-free loans for her car as part of a huge benefits package, whilst students at the university have to pay six per cent interest on their loan repayments, illustrates the obscene double standards of the University of Bath's senior management.

“Increasingly, students are coming to realise there is one set of rules for the university's elite which contrasts with the increasing precarity the vast majority of students and staff find themselves in.”

University comment

The university campus in Claverton Down

A university spokeswoman said: “The university is committed to supporting our students and for those from households with lower incomes we offer a range of bursaries and scholarships to help with course costs and living expenses.

“The student loan interest rate is set by the UK Government.

“As part of Universities UK, the University of Bath is advocating for a reduction to the interest rate charged on student loans and asking for the re-introduction of maintenance grants to be considered.”